


The First Christmas

by julliangray



Category: The A-Team (TV)
Genre: Angst, First Christmas, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:36:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julliangray/pseuds/julliangray
Summary: Hannibal and Face spend their first Christmas together after Stockwell
Relationships: Templeton "Faceman" Peck/John "Hannibal" Smith
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	The First Christmas

“John!” 

Hannibal Smith dropped the knife he was using to cut up vegetables and rushed down the hallway to the master bedroom located at the back of the home he was sharing with Face. Upon entering the bedroom, he found his younger lover kneeling on the floor, doubled over in pain, his right hand wrapped protectively over his stomach. 

“Damn it, kid, what are you doing out of bed? How many times do I have to tell you to call me when you want to get up?” Hannibal growled though the worry in his voice overrode the gruffness of his words. 

“Thought I’d join you in the kitchen.” Face hissed as Hannibal wrapped his arm around him and helped him to his feet. 

“You’re not going to join anyone until this evening when the guys come over for dinner. And even then, your time is going to be limited on the couch.”

Face wanted to argue that he was well enough to sit at the kitchen table and talk to Hannibal while he cooked, but the pain coursing through his abdomen, ribs, shoulder, and right hip prevented him from opening his mouth. In fact, the moment Hannibal lowered him to the mattress Face rolled over on his left side and curled up as best he could. 

“You’re taking your pain meds, and I don’t want an argument,” Hannibal stated as he covered his lover with the blankets. 

“Not going to get one,” Face moaned out as he tried to get into a comfortable position. 

Hannibal stopped pouring water in the glass to look down at Face. 

“That bad?” 

“Yeah,” Face nodded. 

“Okay, Sunshine, I need you to take these.” Hannibal slid his arm behind Face just enough to prop him up so that he could swallow the pain medication and water without choking. “Do you need to go to the bathroom before these kick in?”

“No, that’s where I was coming from when my legs gave out.” 

Hannibal wanted to scold the younger man again for not calling him for help, but the look of misery and pain on his face stopped him. Carefully, he sat down on the bed beside Face and started to stroke his hair. 

“You have to give yourself time to heal kid; it’s only been two weeks since the accident.”

“Wasssn’t an acccccident,” Face slurred out as the pain medication started to take effect, but the anger was still evident. 

“Sorry, kid, bad choice of words.” Hannibal leaned down to kiss Face’s forehead. “Go to sleep, and I’ll get you up in a few hours.” 

“Kay,” 

“It’s been a rough year, hasn’t it Sunshine?” If he’d expected an answer from the younger man, it wasn’t going to come as Face was already fast asleep, pulled under from the pain medication and exhaustion.

‘Rough year, that was a complete understatement,’ Hannibal thought as continued to stroke Face’s hair. The first part of the year had seen them living under Hunt Stockwell’s thumb, and Face’s bitterness and resentment had grown daily. It had gotten to the point that Face had threatened to leave the team on more than one occasion. Hannibal recognized that it was the younger man’s passive-aggressive way of telling him that he needed to get the team free of Stockwell before he did something about it. Then all hell broke loose before Hannibal could even consider coming up with a plan to get them out. 

The first blow had come when the team had been assigned to protect and reunite A.J. Bancroft, with his daughter Ellen. When Murdock had finally told Face that Bancroft might be his father after the old man had died, Face’s anger had been damn near uncontrollable. The arguments between the two had continued to escalate until Hannibal and BA had to physically separate the two of them.   
When Stockwell had confirmed that Bancroft was his father, Face had gone to Ellen and told her that they were related. She instantly rejected him, and Hannibal had watched as Face fell apart before his eyes. The younger man’s emotions were swinging from anger to depression until he finally exploded in a fit of rage that left the entire team reeling from his verbal attack. Hannibal had to give Stockwell credit for the wedge that he had driven between Face and Murdock.

Despite Face’s accusations during his tirade, Hannibal was anything but Stockwell’s lapdog. The Colonel started his own inquiries into Bancroft’s past, and within a month, he had confirmation that there was no possible way that the man was any relationship to Face. While Hannibal’s discovery had helped to ease the tension between him and Face, the younger man was still upset about Murdock’s potential betrayal. To his day, their once strong friendship remained on shaky ground. 

The next blow to the team came when Face was shot trying to stop a potential robbery in the restaurant where Murdock worked. It turned out to be an assignation attempt on attorney general Liebster life and a complete fluke that Face was even there. They had almost lost Face that night, and it still gave Hannibal nightmares to this day. Face had spent weeks in and out of the hospital, first struggling to heal from the bullet wound, then later an infection that seemed to be resistant to just about every antibiotic the doctors tried. Though, one thing that Face seemed to leave on the floor after the shooting at Villa Cucina was his confidence. When they were assigned to find Paula Anderson, Face had been overly concerned about Murdock’s ability to run a scam, and Hannibal believed that the young conman might be worried that he was going to be replaced. A fear that had not had for years. Then later, Face seemed utterly amazed that he was able to create a distraction using the car they had been driving. In the old days, Face would have pulled jumped a vehicle in a heartbeat and never thought twice about it. 

While Hannibal had been planning to leave Stockwell’s service for months, seeing Face so shaken and down on himself had been the final straw. So Hannibal allowed the seniors to escort Frankie to the park while the team had loaded up in the van and left Washington DC for good. The first week had been rough as they continuously looked over their shoulders watching for signs of pursuit, but the one thing that confirmed he had made the right choice was watching Face’s self-confidence return little by little. 

It wasn’t until they arrived back in California that the younger man revealed that he too had been working on getting the team free of Stockwell’s and the government’s clutches once and for all.   
Shortly after their fake execution, Face had made contact with an attorney in Los Angeles who had assembled a team of lawyers to free them. It hadn’t been easy as the military courts were far different from the civilian courts, but once they had a chance to sit down and speak in person, the ball started rolling faster and faster. Within five months of leaving Washington, Hannibal found himself standing before Congress telling his side of Stockwell’s governmental abuse of power. 

After the Congressional hearing was finished criminal charges were brought against Stockwell. It took months to present all the evidence and call the witnesses but when it was all said and done, Stockwell was looking at life in prison along with the majority of his cronies. It was a significant victory for the team but it was short-lived. 

On the day of Stockwell’s sentencing, Hannibal, Murdock and BA were planning their celebration for that evening. While Face was walking a few feet behind them, talking to one of the attorneys about their next move and how the team should proceed with being compensated for their pain and suffering.   
They were almost across the street that led to the steps of the courthouse when a van came out of nowhere barreling straight towards them. Face yelled out a warning which sent everyone scrambling out of the way. As Hannibal started to run, the van swerved towards him, and he had no doubt what so ever that he would have been killed if it hadn’t been for Face shoving him out of the way.   
Unfortunately, Face didn’t get clear in time and was clipped by the front bumper causing him to bounce back against the moving van before being thrown violently to the ground. Watching Face hit the ground sent Hannibal reeling all he could think of was losing Face after coming so far. As he held Face in his arms waiting for the ambulance to arrive, he promised himself that he would make Stockwell pay for every moment of pain Face suffered. 

It was another long night in the hospital for the team, waiting to find out how bad things were. Luckily, things were not nearly as grim as when Face had been shot. Not to say that Face wasn’t going to be out of commission for some time. The attempted assassination had left him with a fracturing hip, three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and internal bruising which had aggravated the gunshot wound from the restaurant shooting. 

It didn’t take much effort for the police to tie the attempted murder of the team to Stockwell, which only added to his sentence. However, it was little comfort to Hannibal as he watched Face sleep in their bed, drugged out of his mind on pain medication. Not to say that Hannibal didn’t have a pleasant surprise for the General when he was finally paced in lockup, he had no doubt that Stockwell forgot he had just as many connections as the General did. Though one significant difference was the people that Hannibal knew had a strong sense of right and wrong, which means that life inside the pen would not be a pleasant one for the disgraced General. 

Hannibal sighed as he leaned over to kiss Face’s temple. Yes, it was Christmas morning, and Face was mostly confined to their bed, but he was alive and they were focusing on the positives. They were free men and no longer had to look over their shoulders, wondering if and when they might be arrested or killed. While this might not be the ideal first Christmas, it would be the start of many more to come and he planned on making it as magical for Face has he could, starting with dinner. 

END?


End file.
